Change is sometimes good
by Jaina Sanri
Summary: One Shot Glimpses from Harry's sixth year with appearences by Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Blaise and many of JKR characters as well as OCs. HG RW


Ok... I tried writing a real story, but it didn't work so I decided to play in that universe instead. If anyone else wants to write something in it, just tell me and I'll send over the docs I have outlined stuff about it. You're welcome to do so! Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: most of the characters and this entire world I've decided to play with belongs to JK… Sinevirga is mine though ;-)… not really. No patent.

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It was amazing, he thought, how everything had changed in the last few months. It used to be that one would see a group of Ravenclaw fifth years passing in the hallways or a group of fourth year Gryffindors sitting at a table in the library.

The same students- now sixth years- were almost never seen in house groups except at meal times. Rather, they consisted of mixed house friendships. It was no longer seen as strange for one to see Seamus Finnegan of Gryffindor walking down the hall talking animatedly with Blaise Zabini and Catherine Warrington of Slytherin.

Now, at 11 o'clock on a Sunday morning, Harry Potter was sitting doing work in the Library. He saw Ron sitting with Hermione at the far table along with some of Ron's friends Terry and Anthony. Thinking back to Saturday morning he smiled to himself.

_Whenever one saw masses of blue, red, green or yellow sixth years, it meant only one thing: it was the morning of a Quidditch game. Quidditch was the one time where the sixth years would separate from their newly formed 'interest' groups as they had been dubbed. This was a time for competition. Catherine could be on apposing sides from Harry in a Slytherin-Gryffindor game or possibly Anthony against Ken and Michael in a Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff game. _

_As soon as breakfast started, Hermione could see the tension climbing. Ron glared at Ken, Michael glared back at Ron for him from the Hufflepuff table. Normally good friends, the three were now instant enemies. Before it turned into an all out war, she elbowed Ron slightly, getting him to turn his attention back to his food. _

"_Hermione! What was that for? You made me blink."_

_Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ron. It's Michael. You have staring contests every day. Let it be and do it tomorrow. You have to get the team out onto the pitch before the game starts, and to do that you have to eat."_

_Before he could open his mouth, Harry spoke from across the table. "She's right, Ron. Focus on Gryffindor, Captain. It's quidditch- a time for lovely house unity. Can't let the bumble bees ruin our day can we- ouch! Ria that hurt."_

_Walking past him on her way out the door, she turned her head and winked back over her yellow and black scarf, "it was supposed to professor." _

_Harry looked back at his old friends with a blank look at their smiling faces. "What?" _

_Rolling her eyes again, Hermione smirked back at him. "Oh nothing. Just nice to be back with the two of you." _

_Ron looked back at her his eyes wide, "What? We just saw each other around 2:00 this morning." He reddened as soon as he saw Hermione's eyes widen at his words. "Erm, what I mean is, well, 2:00 yesterday afternoon."_

_Harry smirked back at him, "Sure Ron. Although I could've sworn I saw Hermione studying with Charles and Sally in the Library at about that time."_

_Ron reddened some more and opened his mouth, but Hermione beat him to it. "Well, I'm going to go meet up with Parvati and Seamus. We're going to the library with Blaise and Catherine before the game to go over the potions homework. I'll catch you later, and Ron, don't dig yourself a deeper hole. Please."_

_Ron's eyes followed her to where she picked up Parvati and the two of them walked out the door towards the library. "You know Harry, it's pretty lucky that I'm her boyfriend. Otherwise I think I would see as much of her as I see of you."_

_Harry just shrugged his shoulders, "yeah I know. It's weird; who would have thought two months ago that I would be seeing more of Blaise, Catherine and Frank than I do of you."_

"_I don't know mate, but it sure is strange." Catching Professor McGonagal's eye, Ron got up out of his seat, and motioned towards the doors, "don't want to be late now. Grab Ginny and Weller, I'll get Natalie, Zabini and Corwin so we can head down." _

_Harry watched Ron head down towards the other end of the table as he emptied his goblet, and then proceeded down the table until he got to the familiar red head of Ginny Weasley. Leaning down slightly, he placed a kiss on her cheek and flicked his eyes up towards Matthew Weller before pulling on Ginny's hand towards the exit. _

_Once outside, the three made their way to the pitch. Harry put his arm around Ginny's shoulders, "so, wonderful girlfriend of mine, how is OWL year going for you? Teacher are still piling the work on?"_

_She laughed slightly, "You know it Harry. Really, how do they expect us to eat and sleep with all the homework?"_

"_Well, they don't really. They're just getting you used to the fact of doing a lot of work. Newts are mostly homework after all. We only meet twice, but we take a maximum of six classes. A lot of the work-"_

_Before he could continue, Ginny cut him off. "Harry, really. It was a rhetorical question. And plus, you've told me that loads of times already. I'm starting to find a double meaning to that nickname of yours, siding with the professors on all the work. Really, it's kind of scary." _

_He elbowed her slightly in the side, "Harry! That tickles. Now stop, we've got some bees to squash." He smiled down at her and just pulled her tighter against him as they continued towards the pitch._

Taking himself away from his thoughts of the first quidditch game of the season, where Gryffindor had creamed Hufflepuff 120-500. Ron had gloated over it to Michael and Kenneth Towler, two of the Hufflepuff chasers and both his good friends, the entire morning.

"Hey professor, what was the hand movement for the _turbatio conturbo_? I think I've got it, and every time I try it, Seamus is still as bright as he was the minute before."

Harry looked up at Catherine Warrington, a sixth year Slytherin and one of his Sinevirgaclassmates. "You've got the wrist movement down, Cath, but you're doing the fingers wrong. You want to bend the last two and partially extend the first three."

Laughing slightly, she tried it again. This time, Seamus paused in the middle of his chess game with Maria with a confused look on his face. "Oh, thanks Harry. _Subsisto turbatio_." Seamus blinked quickly, and put his piece down.

"_Hello everyone. Welcome to your Sinevirga class. Sinevirga is the art of wandless magic. There are few who have the power to wield it. You four are the only ones of your year who can." _

_Harry laughed, "Something Hermione can't do. Won't she be disappointed." _

"_The power to do magic without a wand is not something to be taken lightly. There are many spells that can only work from within. Over the next two years, we will be learning the theory and practical uses of Sinevirga. Harry, Frank, Catherine, Seamus, you will learn to work together in this class. Sinevirga is not easy, and often you will find yourself drawn to one aspect of it in particular." _

_Catherine raised her hand, "Professor, what do you mean by 'aspect?' I thought Sinevirga was just magic without a wand." _

_Smiling, she shook her head, "No Miss Warrington. Sinevirga has many uses. True masters of the art have the ability to control all three. Most have an affinity for one or two uses." Seeing Frank's hand begin to rise she went on, "the three aspects of Sinevirga are the tradition spell casting- but with some spells restricted and some individual to Sinevirga, healing, and the most rare- elemental. In the next few months, we will be testing your ability in each section with simple spells._

"_Now, let's try and simple spell that you all know. The wording is the same, simply repeat 'stupefy' in the same way you would with a wand. However, when you say it, turn your right hand slightly to the left with you fingers splayed outwards like this." As the professor waved her hand, a life-size dummy sprang up in front of her. As she cast the spell, a red light formed in the center of her palm and shot towards the dummy, knocking it across the floor and into the wall. _

"_As you can see, spells cast wandlessly tend to have a bit more power. As we get on with the training, we'll learn to control that power so we can adjust it to the environment. Now, Mister Finnegan, why don't you come up here and try it." With another wave of her hand, a second dummy came into existence. _

_Walking up with a slight apprehension visible in his eyes, Seamus tried the spell. "_Stupefy_!" _

_The professor walked up, "no no no. You must turn to your other left."_

_He gave her a grin, "oops. _Stupefy_!" This time, the red light showed up breiefly in the center of his palm before winking out._

"_More feeling! You must feel the spell. This is not wand work. Your body must power the spell. Again."_

"Stupefy!_" Again, the red light appeared, but didn't have enough power to send the spell to the dummy. _

"_Enough. You will learn. I expect you to practice before class tomorrow. Who'd like to go next?" No one moved. "How about Mister Potter? Why don't you come up here and give this a try." _

_Squaring his shoulders, Harry walked up to the center of the room. The Professor was standing off to the side, with the dummy in front of him about five feet away. Calming his brain, he stared down the pieces of fabric, "_Stupefy!_" Unlike with Seamus's spell, Harry's was bright red and raced towards the dummy, lifting it off the ground and slamming it into the wall where it fell to the floor with a thump. _

"_Excellent, Mister Potter. You see how he concentrated on the dummy and the spell? He put his mind into the spell. You may have a seat, Potter. It seems like you have a knack for wandless spell work. Miss Warrington, why don't you give this a try." _

_Smoothing her robes, Catherine moved towards the center of the room. Closing her eyes briefly, she cast the spell. _

"_What did I just say, Miss Warrington? Turn it to the left. It will do no good if your hand is straight out like that. Try again." _

_This time, the now familiar red light knocked the dummy across the room. Smiling, Catherine took her seat. Frank tied up with a close, but unsuccessful attempt at a wandless stupefy. _

"_Wonderful. I fully expect you to practice _Stupefy _as well as _enervate_ so tomorrow we can get some practical dulling into the schedule. Healing wandlessly is something that often can only be achieved beyond small spells with a close personal connection to the person, or if an Ardis- a witch or wizard with the power of Sinevirga- is particularly adept at healing. The first spell we will learn is…_

"Hey professor, we've got Nash and Chad in 15 minutes and you have a quarter of a foot left on your essay about how _turbatio conturbo _would be useful in a battle."

Harry shook his head slightly to clear it. That first class was now 3 months behind them. Since then, Harry had gained eight new good friends, and hardly spent any time with Ron outside of Quidditch and DA meetings. People in his year had taken to calling him 'professor' after his role as teacher of the DA. He had grown up a little, both mentally and physically.

After Ginny pounded some sense into him over the summer, they had grown closer until he had asked her out during the second week of school. Dating her had brought some of the emotional maturity he found he had lacked in years before. Having friends other than Ron and Hermione had broadened his horizons as well.

He found that Blaise Zabini, who's sister was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, was brilliant at Potions, and wasn't half bad for a dueling partner. Catherine, he realized, was a great debater and used every Slytherin trick in her bag to catch you in an argument. Even Parvati, who Harry had dismissed as a mindless girl too attacked to her tarot cards had turned out to have a great mind for charms.

"_So, Potter, want to give it a go? I've heard you're quite good."_

_Harry turned towards the voice who had spoken, slightly surprised that it was a Slytherin, Blaise Zabini. "Sure, Zabini, right?" _

"_Yeah. That's right. So, want go show the rest of these guys how it's done?"_

_Slightly puzzled, Harry nodded. They moved towards the center of the room and bowed to one another. Blaise took the first shot, "_Stupefy!_"_

_Harry yelled out a shield charm and the duel was on. Professor Shackles, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, had started the class with volunteer stupefy duel between two volunteers. Harry decided to wait. While Blaise fired another Stupefy at his shield, Harry thought through the books he had received over the summer. _

_He smiled as he thought of right passage. As he yelled stupefy, Harry twisted his arm down and around, whispering protego, followed by another stupefy. When Blaise's response stupefy hit his shield, he dropped his for a split second. During the small break in protection, Harry's second stupefy careened into Blaise, knocking him out. _

_Harry walked over, and cast a quick enervate, and put out his hand. "Nice duel, Zabini. You left yourself open there at the end while I used a Cresian pattern."_

"_Like I couldn't figure that out." Blaise pulled himself up on Harry's hand. "Thanks for the duel, Potter. You are good. I'll give you that."_

Over the next month, Harry had continued to partner with Blaise during Defense Class. The two became fast friends, and along with Catherine, Morag and Seamus, they had formed their own study group.

Ron had found his niche with three boys who were planning on going into curse breaking, along with Terry Boot who was training for a job in the transportation department and Dean Thomas who, like Ron, was planning on entering into the world of sports. Ron was often seen with Dean talking about a quidditch match that had happened the day before, or playing a friendly game of quidditch with Michael, Kenneth and Anthony.

_Harry looked out across the grounds from his position on the castle steps. He had tried studying a little with Catherine, but she had decided that snogging Seamus was a better pastime for their strangely open Thursday afternoons. After an hour DA meeting, they were free for four hours. Harry brought his charms book outside to do a little practice when he had noticed Ron walking down to the Quidditch pitch with two boys he recognized from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and one from the Ravenclaw team. _

_His interest piqued, Harry stuffed his book into his school bag and followed them down. When they got the pitch, Harry was surprised to see a two on two game going: two chasers against two others. He noticed that the Hufflepuff twins were broken up- one with the Ravenclaw boy and one with Ron. _

_Harry stayed for a while, watching them laugh and throw the quaffle back and forth before turning back towards the castle and finishing his Charms essay from the steps. _

Later that night, Harry had questioned Ron about the game. Ron's pervious view of other houses had seemed to be squashed in light of having to spending a little time with the other boys when Harry wasn't there.

Hermione and Ron had finally come to their senses with a little push from one of Hermione's new mates. Charles Baun, a Ravenclaw and fellow future international relations worker, was given all the credit, though Parvati had come up with the idea.

"_Hey Hermione, I was wondering if I could see you half an hour before Runes every Friday. I could really use the help on the translations, and you _are _the brightest witch in the class."_

_Blushing, Hermione nodded, "sure Charles. I'd love to." _

"_Hermione!" Ron had looked onto this whole exchange with wide eyes._

"_What Ron? He needs my help. Besides, _he _was nice about asking for it."_

"_He's supposed to be really good at runes 'Mione."_

"_So? Maybe he's having a hard time now. Newt runes is a very hard class you know."_

"_I just don't think he only wants to look at translations."_

"_What in the name of Merlin has gotten into you, Ron? And so what if he wants to do something else? He's a nice guy."_

"_Hermione! He could be deceiving you. He's a Ravenclaw. You never know what their minds are up to."_

"_Ronald Weasley. Need I remind you that one of _your _best friends is a Ravenclaw?"_

"_But he isn't a girl, Hermione!"_

_The entire Gryffindor table had stopped eating to watch the argument, "So _that's _what this is about? You think we might go out sometime. Well at least he might ask. You on the other hand are almost not worth waiting for." Hermione covered her mouth in shock at the words she had just said. _

_Before Ron could recover from his shock, she ran out of the great hall. "Ron? You might want to go after her."_

"_I know, Harry, I know." He scrambled up out of his seat, and followed Hermione's path out the main doors. _

The next thing the school had known, there was a decidedly less amount of screaming going on around the school. All in all, Harry thought as he turned back to his essay, it was turning out to be a great year with great friends and great memories.

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JS

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